Dogs fall in pivotal game against Hereford

Published 4:43 am, Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Plainview's Ben McGee gets on the floor and battles with a Hereford player for possession of the ball during a District 4-4A basketball game in Hereford Tuesday night.

Plainview's Ben McGee gets on the floor and battles with a Hereford player for possession of the ball during a District 4-4A basketball game in Hereford Tuesday night.

Photo: Skip Leon/Plainview Herald

Dogs fall in pivotal game against Hereford

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Payton Gonzales ripped the hearts out of the Plainview Bulldogs and their fans in Hereford Tuesday night

Hererford's junior guard swished a 22-foot three-pointer as time expired to lift the Herd to a 56-53 victory and eliminate Plainview from the District 4-4A playoff picture on the final night of the regular season.

The loss drops the Bulldogs to 4-6 in district play while Hereford finished 5-5. Lubbock Monterey entered the final night tied with the two teams, But Monterey holds the tiebreaker over Plainview.

Jayton Ellis kept Plainview in the game late with some clutch shooting. The 5-foot-8 guard knocked down a three-pointer with 43 seconds left to tie the score at 53.

Hereford held the ball and called timeout with 20 seconds left to set up the final play. Gonzales took a handoff and as he rose up to take the shot, two Bulldogs rose up with him and had their hands in his face.

Words were hard to come by for Plainview coach Leon Hagerman on the court immediately after the game.

"He's just a great shooter," Hagerman said. "He came out and shot pretty good in the first quarter. We shut him down the second and third and most of the fourth quarter. Somebody hits a great shot like that,, what can you do? Hats off to him and go on."

Asked what he tells his players after such a devastating loss, Hagerman replied, "We played our hearts out. We gave it all we could. I'm sorry you didn't win. That's all we can do."

Plainview led 17-13 after a fast-paced first quarter. They were ahead 30-24 at halftime and 41-36 after three quarters.

The game was the final one for seniors Karson Hembree, Thomas Wirth, Desmond Vera.